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SPEECH 


OF 


HON.    JOHN    W.    READ, 

X 


AT    THE 


DEMOCRATIC  TOWN  MEETING  IN  FAVOR  OF  THE 
UNION   AND   CALIFORNIA, 


HELD    IN    THE 


HALL    OF    THE    C  H  I  N  E  S  E    MU  SE  UM, 


ON 


frs, 

Wednesday  the  13th  March,  1850.  ths% 

>    "e 
en  fl. 

*r"^\  I     »  1  '    Jt        iO  *r/\  P  -j  1S3^ 

4    >  .d  J 


DEMOCRATIC  TOWN  MEETING. 

THE  UNION  AND  CALIFORNIA. 

THE  DEMOCRATIC  CITIZENS  of  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia,  who  are  determined 
to  sustain  the  integrity  of  our  glorious  Union  at  all  hazards,  and  the  doctrines  promulgated  by 
the  Democratic  State  Convention,  held  at  Pittsburg  on  the  4th  of  July,  1849,  and  who  are  in 
favor  of  the  immediate  and  unconditional  admission  of  California  into  the  sisterhood  of  States, 
are  requested  to  meet  in  general  TOWN  MEETING,  at  the  CHINESE  MUSEUM,  en  THIS 
(Wednesday)  EVENING,  13th  of  March,  at  7£  o'clock,  to  express  their  opinions  in  relatioh  to 
the  affairs  of  the  Union,  and  the  course  that  should  be  adopted  by  the  Democratic  party. 

The  following  is  the  resolution  referred  to  above  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  adheres  now,  as  it  ever  has  done,  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  cTmntry.  Its  letter  and  spirit  the}'  will  neither  weaken  nor  destroy;  and  they  re- declare 
that  Slavery  is  a  domestic  local  institution  of  the  South,  subject  to  State  law  alone,  and  with 
which  the  General  Government  has  nothing  to  do.  Wherever  the  State  law  extends  its  jurisdic 
tion,  the  local  institutions  can  continue  to  exist.  Esteeming  it  a  violation  of  State  rights  to 
carry  it  beyond  State  limits,  we  deny  the  power  of  any  citizen  to  extend  the  area  of  bondage 
beyond  its  present  dominion,  nor  do  we  consider  it  a  part  of  the  Constitution  that  Slavery  should 
forever  travel  with  the  advancing  column  of  our  territorial  progress." 


SPEECH  OF  JOHN  M.  READ. 


FELLOW  CITIZENS: —  capital  just  rescued  from  the  hands  of  an  cmbitter- 

We  have  assembled  here  this  evening  calmly,  ed  foe,  Pennsylvania  passed  her  noblest  act  of  do- 
deliberately,  and  firmly,  to  express  our  opinions  inestic  legislation,  "  The  act  for  the  gradual  aboli- 
opon  questions  of  vital  importance  to  us  and  to  our  tion  of  slavery."  From  this  text,  Pennsylvania 
posterity,  but  in  relation  to  which  public  sentiment  has  never  deviated.  Slavery  is  finally  extinguish- 

ed  within  her  borders,  and  her  citizens  are  now 
reaping  the  glorious  harvest  of  free  principles, 
sown  by  their  ancestors  seventy  years  ago. 

In  1819,  Pennsylvania  passed  her  celebrated  pre- 


in  Pennsylvania  has  been  too  unequivocally  de 
clared  to  admit  eilher  of  doubt  or  denial. 

Pennsylvania   is  in  favor  of  preserving  forever 
the  integrity  and  prosperity  of  our  glorious  and 


happy  Union,  of  the  immediate  and  unconditional    amble   and  resolutions  against  the   admission   of 


admission  of  the  Star  in  the  West,  of  Democratic 
California,  with  her  noble  Constitution  and  her  pre 
sent  boundaries,  into  the  confederacy — and  she  is, 


Missouri  into  the  Union,  without  a  prospective 
prohibition  of  slavery.  The  vote  was  unanimous ; 
it  was  no  party  question.  It  was  the  solemn  deci- 


and  always  has  been,  and  ever  will  be  opposed  to    sion  of  the  people  of  a  sovereign  State. 


the  extension  of  slavery,  and  of  its  crimes  and 
cruelties  to  the  free  territories  of  the  U.  States. 

Does  any  man  dare  to  doubt  the  attachment  oi 
Pennsylvania  to  the  Union  ? 

In  this  very  city,  within  sight  of  this  Hall,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  written  and 
signed,  which  gave  us  a  station  among  the  Inde 
pendent  Nations  of  the  Earth. 

It  was  sanctified  by  the  blood  of  our  forefathers, 


It  had  been  preceded  by  large  meetings  of  the 
people  without  distinction  of  party,  in  various  por 
tions  of  the  Commonwealth. 

On  the  23d  of  November,  1819,  such  a  meeting 
was  held  in  Philadelphia.  Jared  Ingersoll,  a  framer 
of  the  constitution,  was  the  Chairman,  and  Robert 
Ralston,  the  Secretary,  and  it  was  addressed  by 
Mr.  Binney,  whilst  its  Committee  of  Correspon 
dence  included  the  names  of  Thomas  Leiper,  John 


who  poured  it  out  like  water  on  the  ensanguined    Connelly,  Roberts  Vaux,  and  the  then  Democratic 


fields  of  Brandywine  and  Germantown.  In  this 
very  city,  and  within  sight  of  this  Hall,  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  was  framed  by  the 
gages  and  patriots  of  the  revolution,  headed  by  the 
immortal  Washington,  "First  in  War,  First  in 


Mayor  of  the  city,  James  N.  Barker;  and  upon  the 
committees   in  the  districts,  are  to  be  found  the 
names  of  those  Democratic  veterans,  John  Good 
man,  Joshua  Raybold,  and  Richard  Palmer. 
On  the  same  day,  a  similar  meeting  was  held  at 


Peace,  First  in  the  Hearts  of  his  Fellow-citizens/'    Lancaster,  over  which  Hon.  Walter  Franklin  pre- 
Under  the  benign  influence  of  this  great  charter    sided,  and  the  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Buchanan 
of  popular  freedom,  have  sprung  up  a  Republic  and 
an  Empire,  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen.    In 


On  the  27th  of  the  same  month  a  similar  meeting 
was  held  at  West  Chester,  at  which  General  Isaac 
D.  Barnard  acted  as  Secretary. 

The  preamble  and  resolutions  of  the  22d  Decem- 


was  a  member,  reported  the  strongest  resolutions, 
especially  directed  to  preventing  "  the  existence  of 
the  two  foreign  wars  which  the  United  States  have  slavery  in  any  of  the  Territories  or  States  which 
waged,  Pennsylvania  has  freely  contributed  her  may  be  erected  by  Congress"  which  were  unani- 
blo&d  and  her  treasure,  and  no  more  gallant  soldiers  mously  adopted, 
trod  the  battle  fields  of  Mexico,  than  her  brave  and 
skilful  volunteers.  And  Pennsylvania  is  now  as 
she  was  in  the  time  of  the  patriot  Jackson,  ready 
and  willing  to  rally  at  the  watchword  of  our  coun 
try— "The  Union,  it  must  and  shall  be  preserved."  berj  1819f  were  oflered  by  the  Hon>  w.  j.  Duane> 
Is  there  a  man  in  Pennsylvania  who  will  dare  to  a  Democratic  member  from  the  city  of  Philadel- 
~  say  that  he  is  opposed  to  the  admission  of  Calif  or-  phJa,  and  were  seconded  by  another,  Mr.  Tbacka- 
nia,  with  freedom  inscribed  on  her  banner  ?  If  ra>  in  the  Legislature,  we  find  amongst  its  sup- 
there  be  one,  let  him  call  a  meeting  opposed  to  its  porters,  the  mover  afterwards,  Secretary  of  the 
admission  !  We  will  print  his  placards,  distribute  Treasury,  the  present  Judges  Coulter  and  Rogers, 
his  circulars,  publish  his  advertisements,  and  take  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  Hon.  Wm.  Wilkins. 
Independence  Square  for  his  exclusive  accommo-  afterwards  a  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  th 
dation,  and  will  even  send  to  South  Carolina  to  United  States  for  the  Western  District,  the  Pen  ^. 
secure  a  seconder  to  his  resolutions. 


sylvania  candidate  for  the  Vice  Presidency  in  183^' 
la  the  gloomy  days  of  the  Revolution,  with    er  United  States  Senator,  Minister  to  Kussia,  and  89- 


ftretary  of  War,  whilst  the  Hon.  Daniel  Sturgeon 
became  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  then  State 
Treasurer,  and  has  been  twice  elected  to  the  Se 
nate  of  the  United  States 

General  Barnard  became  Secretary  of  the  Com 
monwealth  and  a  Senator,  whilst  Mr.  Buchanan 
was  elected  to  Congress  in  the  fall  of  1820,  and  con 
tinued  there  ten  years,  was  sent  to  Russia  by  Gen. 
.Jackson,  and  in  1835  became  a  Senator,  which  of- 
lice  he  held  for  ten  years,  until  appointed  Secre. 
tary  of  Slate  by  the  late  President,  Mr.  Polk- 

These  were  the  rewards  which  Pennsylvania 
lavished  upon  the  exponents  of  her  feelings  and 
principles  in.  relation  to  the  further  extension  of 
slavery. 

lu  1S47,  equally  strong  resolutions  were  passed 
in  favor  of  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  territories  to 
be  acquired  from  Mexico.  They  were  offered  by 
a  Democratic  member  from  a  Democratic  county, 
and  passed  both  bodies  with  but  three  dissentient 
voices,  and  were  known  to  have  received  the  cor 
dial  approval  of  Governor  Shunk. 

At  the  Baltimore  Convention,  in  May,  1848,  the 
prominent  candidates  for  the  Presidency  were  de 
sirous  of  conciliating  the  favor  of  the  South.  This 
produced  the  rejection  of  one  sovereign  State  with 
ihirty-six  electoral  votes,  and  the  representation 
of  another  by  self-appointed  delegates.  The  re 
sult  was  easy  to  be  foreseen,  but  it  was  rendered 
inevitable  -by  the  adoption  of  an  old  resolution, 
upon  which  the  South  placed  a  construction  not 
warranted  by  its  words  as  applied  to  the  period 
when  it  originated. 

The  Southern  construction  was,  that  the  non 
intervention  recommended,  applied  to  Territories, 
whilst  the  North  contended  that  it  was  confined 
only  to  the  States.  The  consequence  was  that 
neither  section  was  pleased;  and  whilst  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  wheeled  out  of  the  Democratic 
rank*,  the  Southern  States  either  followed  their  ex 
ample,  or  reduced  their  majorities  so  low  as  to  be 
equivalent  to  a  moral  defeat. 

This  difficulty  was  severely  felt  in  the  Conven 
tion  to  nominate  a  Governor  in  August,  1848.  The 
Baltimore  Slavery  Platform  could  not  be  adopted 
— that  was  impossible.  To  reject  it,  was  to  bring 
down  upon  the  candidate  the  ill  wishes  of  a  South 
ern  administration.  The  Convention,  therefore, 
said  nothing,  and  the  consequence  was  the  defeat 
of  an  individual  who  was  believed  to  be  against 
the  extension  of  slavery,  and  the  overwhelming 
rout  of  the  Democratic  party  at  the  Presidential 
election. 

It  proved  one  fact  conclusively,  that  the  Demo 
cratic  party  of  this  State,  cannot  succeed   when 
either  openly  or  secietly  arrayed  against  any  prm- 
\       ciple  which  is  interwoven  with  the  education  and 
\      feeling*  of  its  citizens.     When  therefore,  the  De- 
mocratic  Convention  met  at  Pittsburg  on  the  4th 

v  last,  it  became  evident  tbat  some  resolution 
^^ist  be  adopted  expressive  of  the  sense  of  the 


Democracy  of  the  State,  irrespective  of  the  views 
entertained  by  their  brethren  in  the  Slave  States. 

The  resolution  embodied  in  our  call,  was  the 
fruit  of  this  reflection.  It  was  mild,  moderate,  but 
decided,  and  after  a  full  and  fair  discussion  it  was 
unanimously  adopted.  Then  came  the  manly  let 
ter^  oyr  candidate,  and  upon  its  heels  a  glorious 
and  overwhelming  victory. 

Upon  tkis  question,  therefore,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Democracy  of  Pennsylvania  are 
against  the  extension  of  slavery  to  the  free  terri 
tories  acquired  from  Mexico. 

Whenever  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  at 
their  regular  Conventions,  pass  exactly  similar 
resolutions  upon  any  given  subject,  it  is  a  foregone 
conclusion  that  they  are  but  an  expression  of  the 
will  of  the  only  true  sovereigns  in  a  free  Republic, 
the  p'ople. 

Having  thus  briefly  reviewed  the  course  of 
Pennsylvania  upon  the  question  of  slavery,  it  may 
be  profitable  to  enquire  whether  it  has  not  been 
entirely  consistent  with  the  Constitution,  and  the 
uniform  construction  placed  upon  it  by  the  Legis 
lative,  executive  and  judicial  departments  of  the 
Government. 

Four  years  ago  no  one  would  have  asked  so  plain 
a  question,  but  Constitutional  heresies  have  been 
broached  since  that  period,  which  neither  the  fram- 
ers  of  the  Constitution  nor  our  wisest  statesmen 
ever  dreamed  of,  until  the  politicians  of  the  South 
found  that  their  ascendency  in  the  Senate  must  be 
swept  away  by  the  overwhelming  increase  of  the 
free  white  population  of  the  country. 

Territorial  governments  were  established  by  the 
Congress  of  the  Confederation,  and  by  the  Con 
gress  under  the  present  Constitution.  They  have 
existed  and  flourished  for  upward  of  sixty  years, 
and  from  them  have  proceeded  thirteen  of  the  pre 
sent  States.  They  are  now  discovered  at  this  late 
day  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  unwarranted  either 
by  the  articles  of  confederation  or  by  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States.  The  framers  of  the  Con 
stitution  did  not  understand  that  instrument. 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  Jackson 
and  Polk  did  not  understand  it;  but  its  true  mean 
ing  has  been  discovered  by  individuals  who  have 
lived  and  prospered  under  institutions  which  they 
now  proclaim  to  have  been  unwarranted  by  the 
paramount  law  of  the  land.  Let  us  trace  this 
question  historically. 

The  words  territory  and  territories  as  used  in  the 
original  charters,  of  the  various  colonies,  in  the 
public  documents  preceding  and  succeeding  the 
articles  of  confederation  in  the  cessions  from  the/" 
various  States,  and  in  the  contemporaneous  legis 
lation  of  the  old  Congress,  included  soil,  land  and 
water  jurisdiction,  domain  and  sovereignty.  Tire 
same  meaning  has  been  attached  to  them  in  our 
treaties  with  foreign  powers,  in  our  acts  of  Con 
gress,  and  even  in  the  celebrated  resolution  for 
the  conditional  admission  of  Texas,  and  ia  sora$ 


cases  they  have  been  used  to  designate  the  whole 
of  the  United  States,  whether  States  or  Territories. 
The  original  title  to  ft  new  country  is  founded 
on  the  right  of  discovery,  and  it  confers  upon  the 
nation  discovering  it,  the  sovereignty  flnd  jurisdic- 
iion,  with  the  right  of  pre-emption  of  the  soil  from 
'tts  aboriginal  inhabitants.  This  right  belongs  to  it 
in  its  sovereign  capacity,  which  enables  i^to  ex 
tinguish  the  Indian  title  and  to  perfect  its  dominion 
over  the  soil  and  dispose  of  it  according  to  its  own 
good  pleasure. 

In  the  new  territories  therefore  of  America,  dis 
covery  and  the  purchase  of  the  Indian  Title  vested 
in  the  government,  the  soil,  jurisdiction  and  sover 
eignty  of  the  country,  and  of  course  of  its  inhabi 
tants. 

In  the  second  charter  of  Virginia  in  1609,  the 
words  used  are  "lands,  countries  and  territories," 
and  in  the  second  charter  of  Carolina  in  16^,  the 
grant  is  of  "  all  that  province,  territory,  or  tract 
of  land,"  and  "  together  with  all  and  singular  the 
ports,  harbors,  bays,  rivtj/rs  and  inlets  belonging 
unto  the  province  or  territory  aforesaid,"  and  in 
the  charter  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts  of 
1691,  the  words  Province  and  Territory  are  used 
as  synonymous,  and  in  speaking  ot  it,  it  is  called 
by  William  and  Mary  ".our  said  Province  or  Ter 
ritory." 

In  the  Georgia  charter  in  1732,  the  grant  was  of 
"all  those  lands,  countries  and  territories,"  and  the 
7th  article  of  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  het  ween 
Great  Britain,  France  and  Spain,  concluded  at  Pa 
ris  on  the  10th  February,  1763,  speaks  of  "  the 
limits  of  the  British  and  French  Territories  on  the 
continent  of  America,"  which  are  irrevocably  fix 
ed  by  that  treaty. 

By  the  9ih  of  the  articles  of  Confederation,  fede 
ral  Courts  were  directed  to  be  constituted  to  settle 
disputes  between  two  or  more  States,  concerning 
boundary,  jurisdiction,  or  any  other  cause  what 
ever,  "each  Judge  of  such  Courts  was  to  be  sworn, 
and  it  was  provided  that  "  no  State  sfiali  be  de 
prived  of  Territory  for  the  benefit  of  the  United 
States ,"  all  controversies  concerning  the  private 
•right  of  soil  claimed  under  different  grants  of  two 
or  more  Slates,  whose  jurisdiction  as  they  may 
respect  such  lands  had,  been  adjusted,  were  to  be 
Anally  determined  as  near  as  might  be  in  the  same 
manner  as  was  prescribed  for  deciding  disputes 
-concerning  Territorial  jurisdiction  between  dif 
ferent  States. 

In  the  provisional  articles  of  peace  of  the  30th 
November,  178^,  the  King  of  Great  Britain 
acknowledged  the  Independence  of  the  United 
~"*ates,  and  relinquished  all  claims  to  the  Govern 
ment  propriety,  and  territorial  rights  of  the  same, 
^nd  every  part  thereof. 

In  Jay's  Treaty  in  the  9th  article.the  words  "  ter=j 
titones  of  the  United  States, "-are  used  in  the  lar 
gest  sense-,  comprehending  botk  States  and  Terri 
tories,  as-eiso  in  ttes  14th]  Artictfc,  which  secures  a 


reciprocal   and  prefect  liberty  of  navigation  ant 
commerce  between  all  the  dominions  of  the  King\ 
of  Great  Britain  in  Europe,  •'  and  the  Territories 
of  the  United  States  " 

The   15th  and  16th  articles  use  the  words  Ter 
ritories  in  the  same  extensive  sense,  and  the   13th 
relates  to  the  admi-sion  of  American  vessels    into 
•  the  ports  and  harbours  of  the  "British   territories 
in  the  East  Indies." 

The  determined  stand  taken  by  Maryland,  in  re 
lation  to  the  ratification  of  the  articles  of  confeder 
ation,  produced  a  series  of  measures  by  Congress  , 
which  no  one,  at  the  time,  declared  to  be  beyond 
their  powers.  That  State,  New  Jersey,  and 
Delaware  asserted  that  the  western  country  be 
longed  to  the  United  States.  These  measures 
were  adopted  with  the  express  or  implied  nopro- 
bation  of  Mr  Madison,  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  Mr. 
Monroe,  either  in  the  capacity  of  delegates  to  Con 
gress,  or  as  representing  the  interests  of  Virgi 
nia.  The  first  was  the  celebrated  report  and 
resolution  of  the  6th  September,  1780,  in  which  the 
States  having  claims  to  the  western  country  are 
requested  to  make-  "#  liberal  surrender  of  a  por 
tion '  of their  territorial  claims ,  since  they  cannot 
be  preserved  entire  without  endangering  the  stabil 
ity  of  the  general  confederacy." 

This  was  followed  by  the  resolution  of  the  10th 
October,  1780,  which  contemplated  the  disposal  by 
Congress  of  the  unappropriated  lands  redjd  to  th«» 
United  States,  and  their  sett'ement  and  formation, 
into  distinct  republican  States. 

In  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  New 
York,  passed  on  the  19th  February,  1750,  the  del 
egates  from  that  State  in  Congress,  on  the  1st 
March,  1781,  executed  a  deed  of  ee**ion,  conveying 
all  the  right,  title,  interest,  jurisdiction,  and  claim 
of  the  State  of  New  York  to  ail  lands  and  territo 
ries,  to  the  northward  and  westward  of  the  boun 
daries  limited  in  paid  conveyance. 

On  the  l*t  March  1784,  Thomas  Jefferson, 
Samuel  Hardy,  Arthur  Lee,  and  James  Monroe, 
delegates  in  Congress  from  Virginia,  by  c'eed,  as 
signed  to  the  United  States, in  Congress  assembled, 
all  right,  title,  and  claim,  as  well  of  soil  asjurisdic  - 
tion,  which  the  said  Commonwealth  had  to  the 
territory  or  tract  of  country  within  the  limits  of  the 
Virginia  charter,  to  the  northwest  of  the  River 
Ohio,  upon  the  conditions  in  the  said  deed  speci 
fied. 

One  of  these  conditions  was  the  protection  of  the 
French  and  Canadian  inhabitants  in  their  rights  and 
liberties,  and  the  confirmation  of  iheir  titles  and 
possessions.  It  prtsscnbes,  also,  the  disposition  of 
"  all  the  land  within  the  territory  so  ceded  to  the 
United  States,"  and  not  reserved  for,  or  appropri 
ated  to,  purposes  mentioned  in  said  deed,  or  dis 
posed  of  in  bounties  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  American  Army. 

On  the  19lh  of  April,  1785,  Samuel  Holten  and 
Jlufus  King,  delegates  in  Ceogress  from  Massachu- 


setts,  executed  a  deed  of  cession,  conveying  to  the    scribed  the  size  of  the  States,  and  the  time  and 


United  States  of  America,  for  their  benefit,  all 
right,  title,  and  estate  of,  and  in,  as  well  the  soil  as 
the  jurisdiction,  which  the  said  Commonwealth  had 
to  the  territory  or  tract  of  country  within  the  limits 
of  the  Massachusetts  charter,  west  of  a  certain 
line,  and  on  the  14th  of  September,  1786,  William 
Samuel  Johnson  and  Jonathan  Sturges,  delegates 


manner  of  their  admission,  and  the  principles  upon 
which  both  the  temporary  and  permanent  govern 
ments  should  be  established.  It  is  clear  that  neith 
er  Mr.  Jefferson  nor  any  member  of  that  Congress 
doubted  the  power  of  that  body  to  acquire  territo 
ry  and  to  legislate  for  it  and  its  people,  by  provi 
ding  first  a  temporary  government,  and  secondly  for 


in  Congress  from  Connecticut,  executed  a  deed  o'f  the  future  formation  of  independent  sovereign 
cession,  conveying  to  the  United  States  of  Ame-  States  which  should  be  admitted  into  the  confede- 
right, 


r  ica,  for  their  benefit,  all  the  right,  title,  interest, 
ursdiction  and  claim  which  that  State  had  to  a  cer 
tain  territory  or  tract  ot  country  lying  120  miles 
west  of  the  western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania. 
These  territories,  thus  ceded,  had  been  claimed 


racy — and  still  further,  it  is  equally  clear  that   Mr. 
Jefferson  and  a  real  majority  of  the  States  included 
the  power  to  prohibit  slavery  as  within  their  legiti 
mate  authority. 
Congress  having  thus  provided  a  plan  for  the 


by  the  United  States,  and  also  by  the  States  of  New  temporary  and  permanent  government  of  the  Ter 
ritory,  next  directed  their  attention  to  the  sale  of 
the  public  lands  within  it,  to  which  the  Indian 
title  had  been  extinguished. 

On  the  7th  May,  1784,  a  Committee  of  which 


lrork,  Virginia,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts. — 
The  claims  of  the  States  were  founded  originally 
on  the  terms  of  their  respective  charters,  and  in 
cluded  not  only  the  soil,  and  the  right  of  pre-emp-  VH  „„._. j, , .  

tion,  but  as  complete  a  jurisdiction  and  right  of  Mr>  Jefferson  (who  had  been  the  Chairman  of  the 

sovereignty  overthe  territory  and  its  mhabitants.as  Committee  on  the  plan  for  the  government  of  the 

if  it  had  been  in  the  most  densely  populated  part  of  Territories)  was  Chairman,    reported  "an    ordi- 

their  Atlantic  possessions.  nance  for  ascertaining  the  mode  of  locating  and 

When,  therefore,  they  executed  their  deeds  of  disposing  of  lands  in  the  Western  Territory,  and 

cession,  they  parted  with  the  soil,  the  right  of  pre-  for   other    purposes   therein    mentioned."     This 

emption,  and  the  sovereignty  or  jurisdiction  which  or(jjDance5  as  amended,  passed  on  the  20th  May, 


they  claimed  to  exercise  within  their  charter  limits 
and  the  whole  vested  in  the  United  States  of  Ame 
rica.  No  one  could  sell  the  lands  or  govern  the 


1785,  and  formed  the  ground  work  of  the  present 
land  laws  of  the  United  States. 

It  was,  however,  deemed  expedient  to  repeal 
the  Resolve  of  the  23d  April,  1784,  which  was  ac 
cordingly  done  by  Congress,  who  on  the  13th  July. 
1787,  passed  the  celebrated  ordinance  for  the  go 
vernment  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  State? 
North-west  of  the  River  Ohio." 

It  regulated  the  descent  of  intestate  estates  in 


people  in  those  territories,  but  their  recognized  or 
gan,  the  Congress  of  the  confederation,  and  we  ac 
cordingly  find  that  both  objects  were  separately  the 
subjects  of  distinct  Congressional  Legislation. 

The  government  of  the  people  was  the  first 
object  and  the  preparation  of  the  ceded  ter 
ritories  for  their  erection  into  Republican  States  the  Territory,  and  also  devises  by  will  and  the 
which  should  'become  sovereign  members  of  the  conveyance  of  real  estate,  with  the  mode  Of  proof 
confederacy.  Accordingly  on  the  19th  April,  1784,  acknowledgement  and  record,  and  established  also 
Congress  took  into  consideration  the  report  of  a  lne  transfer  of  personal  property  by  delivery,  sav- 
committee,  consist-ing  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Mr.  Chase  ing  to  the  prench  and  Canadian  inhabitants  and 
and  Mr.  Howell,  to  whom  was  re-committed  their  other  settlers  of  the  Kaskaskias,  St.  Vincents,  and 
report  of  a  plan  for  the  temporary  government  of  tne  neighboring  villages  who  had  theretofore  pro- 
ihe  western  territory.  A  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  fessed  themselves  citizens  of  Virginia,  their  law* 

and  customs  then  in  force  relative  to  the  descent 
and  conveyance  of  property. 

It  then  gave  a  temporary  government  to  the 
Territory  or  District,  consisting  of  a  Governor, 
Secretary  and  three  Judges,  the  Governor  and 
in  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  Judges  being  invested  with  the  legislative  power 
have  been  convicted  to  have  been  personally  g-tdlty."  until  the  organization  of  a  general  assembly,  which 
It  was  struck  out,  all  the  States  North  of  Mason  was  to  consist  of  the  Governor,  a  legislative  coun- 
and  Dixon's  line  voting  for  it,  as  well  as  Mr.  Jeffer-  cil  appointed  by  Congress  from  the  nomination* 
son  and  Mr.  Williamson,  of  North  Carolina.  After  made  by  the  Representatives  and  a  House  of  Re- 
some  other  amendments  the  resolution  was  adopt-  presentatives,  which  Council  and  House  were^ 
ed,  on  the  23d  April.  This  report  aod  particularly  authorized  by  joint  ballot  to  elect  a  delegate  to 
this  provision  against  the  existence  of  slavery  in  Congress  who  was  to  have  a  seat  with  the  right  of 
the  new  States  was  understood  to  be  the  produo  debating,  but  not  of  voting  during  this  temporary 
lion  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  government. 

This  resolution  provided  for  the  temporary  gov-       The  second  or  permanent  part  of  the  ordinance 
eminent  of  the  north  western  territory,  end  prc-    established  the  prirtei pies  in  the  shape  of  article^ 


Spaight,  of  North  Carolina,  seconded  by  a  delegate 
from  South  Carolina,  to  strike  out  this  paragraph: 
"That  after  the  year  1800,  of  the  Christian  era, 
therf-  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  ser 
vitude  in  any  of  the  said  States  otherwise  than 


which  were  six  in  number,  by  which  both  the  tem 
porary  and  permanent  governments  should  be  for 
ever  regulated,  and  provided  for  the  formation  of 
not  less  than  three,  nor  more  than  five  States  in 
the  territory,  and  their  admission  into  the  Union; 
provided,  the  constitution  and  government  to  be 
formed  by  such  States,  should  be  republican,  and 
in  conformity  to  the  principles  contained  in  the 
said  artj^les. 

The  4th  and  6th  of  these  articles,  which  applied 
expressly  to  the  territory,  .whether  under  the  tem 
porary  or  permanent  form  of  government,  declared 
two  great  principles  of  freedom,  the  one  was  the 
freedom  of  the  navigable  waters  leading  into  ihe 
Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  the  other  the  free 
dom  of  the  soil  by  prohibiting  forever  the  existence 
of  slavery  tbithin  this  favored  region,  a  provision 
which  was  merely  an  enlargement  of  Mr,  Jeffer 
son's  favorite  proposition  in  the  Congress  of  1784. 

These  six  articles  were  adopted  by  the  unani 
mous  vole  of  all  the  Stales  (including  Virginia)  re 
presented  in  Congress,  and  it  was  declared  that 
they  should  be  considered  as  articles  of  compact 
between  the  original  States  and  the  people,  and 
States  in  the  said  territory,  and  forever  remain  un 
alterable  unless  by  common  content. 

As  these  articles  interfered  with  some  of  the 
provisions  ot  the  deed  of  cession  from  Virginia,  it 
became  necessary  to  procure  her  consent,  which 
she  gave  by  an  act  of  her  Legislature,  ratifying  and 
confirming  the  5th  article  of  the  compact  whieh 
refers  to  and  recognizes  the  other  five  articles. 

It  was  clearly  a  compact  to  which  the  United 
States,  and  the  people  and  States  in  the  Territory, 
and  the  State  of  Virginia  were  parties,  and  which 
must  remain  unalterable  unless  by  the  common 
consent  of  all. 

This  ordinance  had  been  the  subject  of  discus 
sion  in  Congress  ten  months  before  its  adoption. 
Mr.  Gorham,  Mr.  Kingv  Mr.  Madison  and  Mr. 
Butler  who  were  members  of  the  Federal  Con 
vention  were  also  Delegates  in  the  Congress 
which  sat  in  New  York.  Mr.  Madison  v»as  pre 
sent  in  Congress  whilst  this  ordinance  was  on  se 
cond  reading,  and  we  find  his  name  on  the  Jour 
nal,  on  the  22d  April,  1787,  and  on  the  next  day 
he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  from  New 
York,  in  which  he  says,  '•'•the  -present  deliberations 
of  Congress  turn  on,  first,  the  sale  of  the  Western 
lands,  secondly,  tke  Govfr'iime.nt  of  the  Western 
settleinents  within  the  Federal  domaiji." 

On  the  9t!i  May,  Congress  proceeded  in  the  se 
cond  reading  of  the  ordinance,  and  it  was  ordered 
to  be  transcribed,  and  the  next  day  was  assigned 
Jbr  a  third  reading.  On  the  10th  May,  when  it 
~;ame  up  in  order,  it  was  postponed,  Messrs.  Gor« 
ham  and  King  were  then  present,  and  voting,  as 
appears  by  the  Journal.  From  the  llth  May  to 
the  6th  July,  Congress  only  met  and  adjourned, 
ihere  not  being  a  quorum.  And  on  the  llth  July, 
the  Committee  to  whom  it  had  'been  referred  re 


ported  the  ordinance,  and  it  was  read  a  first  time 
on  that  day,  a  second  time  on  the  12th,  and  a  third 
time  on  the  13th. 

The  passage  of  this  ordinance  is  mentioned  in 
the  Pennsylvania  Packet,  of  the  21st  July,  1787, 
published  in  Philadelphia,  by  John  Dunlap  and 
David  C.  Claypoole,  and  the  whole  appeared  at 
length  in  the  August  number  of  Mathew  Carey's 
American  Museum  for  that  year. 

The  Federal  Convention  adjourned  on  the  26th 
July  until  Monday  the  6th  August,  and  on  Thurs 
day  the  2d  August,  Mr.  Pierce  Butler  appeared  in 
Congress,  in  New  York,  and  produced  his  creden 
tial*  as  a  delegate  from  South  Carolina. 

On  the  28th  August,  in  ihe  Federal  Convention, 
Mr.  Butler  and  Mr.  Pinckney, moved,  to  require 
fugitive  slaves  and  servants  to  be  delivered  up 
like  criminals.  This  was  opposed,  because  it 
would  oblige  the  Executive  of  the  State  to  do  it  at 
the  public  expense,  and  the  proposition  was  with 
drawn.  On  the  next  day,  Mr.  Butler  moved  a  pro 
position  which  was  evidently  taken  from  the  sixth 
article  of  the  ordinance  oi  the  13th  July,  and  which 
in  more  compact  phraseology  forms  the  third 
clause  of  the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of 
the  Constitution. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention  on  the 
17th  September,  Mr.  Gorham,  Mr.  King,  Mr.  But 
ler  and  Mr.  Madison  took  their  seats  again  in  Con 
gress,  at  New  York,  and  we  find  the  names  of  the 
three  first  named  gentlemen,  on  the  Journal  on  the 
24th  September,  and  on  the  next  day  that  of  Mr, 
Mndison  also,  who  on  the  30th  wrote  to  General 
Washington  respecting  the  feelings  of  Congress, 
and  of  the  people  in  relation  to  the  act  of  the  con 
vention.  On  the  5th  October,  General  St.  Clair 
was  elected  Governor,  and  Winthrop  Sargent* 
Secretary  of  the  north  western  territory. 

On  the  9th  August,  1787,  South  Carolina  had 
made  her  cession  of  soil  and  jurisdiction  lo  the 
United  States. 

At  the  time  therefore,  of  framing  the  ConstitU' 
tion  the  settled  policy  of  the  United  States,  was 
clearly  and  distinctly  defined  and  known  to  all  the 
members  of  the  Federal  Convention.  It  was  1.  To 
dispose  of  the  public  lands,  this  was  the  subject  of 
a  separate  system,  which  has  always  been  kept  by 
itself,  and  forms  the  business  of  a  distinct  depart 
ment  ot  the  Government. 

2  To  Legislate  for  and  to  form  temporary  or 
Territorial  Governments,  for  the  territory  belong 
ing  to  the  United  States. 

3.  To  provide  for  the  admission  of  New  States. 

All  these  powers  had  been  exercised  without 
question  by  Congress,  and  we  have  the  highest 
authority  for  saying,  that  the  power  of  acquiring 
territory,  necessarily  brings  with  it  the  power  of 
Legislation. 

Whilst  in  ils  territorial  form,  it  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  doubted  that  gueh  a  power 


«is*t  wlfhoul  £ny  positive  provision  m  the  Conv 
stitution. 

A  provision  was  therefore  made  for  the  admis 
sion  of  new  States,  but  in  the  original  report  the 
territories  were  entirely  omitted. 

Upon,  a  suggestion,  however,  of  Mr.  Carroll  of 
Maryland,  who  was  afraid  thnt  the  claims  of  the 
United  States  to  the  Western  Territory  might  be 
•denied,  it  not  mentioned  in  the  constitution,  that 
which  now  forms  the  2d  clause  of  the  3d  section 
of  the  4th  article  was  adopted. 

The  whole  3d  section  refers  1.  To  the  admission 
of  new  States — 

2.  To  the  dispoal  of  the   public  lands    which 
is    included   in   the  words  "  The   Congress  shall 
have  the  power  to  dispose  of  the  Territory  or  other 
property    belonging  to    the    United   States,"  the 
words  being  the  same  as  those  used  in  the  Land 
ordinance  of  the  28th  May,  1785,  which  says,  "the 
Territory  ceded  shall  be  disposed  of  m  the  follow 
ing  manner." 

3.  To  the  legislation  for  and  the  temporary  gov 
ernment  of  the  Territories,  which  are  provided  for 
in  the  words  '  •  Congress  shall  have  power  to  make 
all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the 
Territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the   Uni 
ted  States,"  using  the  word  territory  in   its  largest 
sense  as  understood  in  the  Deeds  of  Cession   and 
in  the  ordinance  of  the   13th  July,  1787.      This 
means  Jurisdiction  and   Sovereignty,  and  confers 
upon  or  recognises  in  Congress  the  same  power 
as  had  been  exercised  by  the  old  Congress. 

This  is  made  more  evident  when  we  l"efer  to 
the  concluding  words  in  this  clause,  "  and  nothing 
in  this  constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to 
prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United  States  or  of 
any  particular  States."  Now  this  means  neither 
more  nor  less  than  the  claims  of  either  to  the  juris 
diction,  Soil  and  Sovereignty  of  the  Western 
Country. 

The  word  Territory  in  its  largest  sense  includes 
lands,  soil,  jurisdiction  and  sovereignty,  and  as 
the  power  to  sell  includes  the  lesser  power  to 
mortgage,  so  the  power  to  dispose  of  Territory 
supposing  it  used  in  its  most  extended  meaning 
includes  the  power  to  sell  the  public  Lands  agree 
ably  to  the  present  system,  which  commenced  be 
fore  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 

The  cession  of  Virginia  included  in  it  Lake 
Michigan,  an  inland  sea,  half  of  Lakes  Erie,Huron 
and  Superior,  and  a  tract  of  country  equal  to  many 
of  the  kingdoms  of  the  Old  World.  How  absurd, 
then, is  it  at  this  day  to  apply  to  a  constitution  for  an 
empire,  a  construction  which  would  be  rejected, 
not  simply  by  statesmen  of  enlarged  intellect,  but 
by  the  humblest  lawyer  that  ever  practised  before 
a  justice  of  the  peace? 

The  words  used  in  this  clause  are,  indeed,  of  the 
most  extensive  signification,  as  we  have  already 
.  The  same  extended  meaning  of  territory 


and  territories,  is  to  be  foirtVd  in  the  laWs  and  trea* 
ties  of  the  United  States,  as  in  the  Louisiana  treaty^ 
by  which  France  ceded  to  the  United  States,  "/or- 
ever  and  in  full  sovereignty ,"  the  territory  of 
Louisiana,  in  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  and  in  the  Con 
vention  of  1815,  "to  regulate  the  commerce  be* 
tween  the  territories  of  the  United  States,  and  his 
Britanic  Majesty,"  in  the  Convention  with  Great 
Britain  of  20th  October,  1818,  which  left  d{>en  foi 
ten  years,  the  country  west  of  the  Stony  Moun 
tains,  10  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects  of  the 
two  powers— in  the  Treaty  of  1819,  by  which  the 
King  of  Spain  ceded  to  the  United  States,  the  ter 
ritories  of  East  and  West  Florida,  and  all  his  right 
to  the  territories  east  and  north  of  a  line  fixed  by 
the  treaty,  and  by  which  we  ceded  the  Territory  of 
Texas  to  Spain,  in  the  8th  section  of  the  Missouri 
act  of  1820,  and  in  the  Convention  with  Great  Bri 
tain,  of  the  6th  August,  1827,  "  with  respect  to  the 
territory  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  west 
of  the  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains — in  the  conven 
tion  between  the  United  States  and  the  Republic 
of  Texas,  ot  the  25th  of  April,  1838— in  the  Treaty 
with  Great  Britain  of  the  9th  August,  1842— in  the 
Joint  Resolution  for  annexing  Texas  to  the  United 
States,  and  lastly  in  the  celebrated  treaty  of  15th 
June,  1846,  which  was  "  to  terminate  the  state  of 
doubt  and  uncertainty  which  had  hitherto  prevail 
ed  respecting  the  sovereignty  and  government  of 
the  territory  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America, 
lying  westward  of  the  Rocky  or  Stony  Mountains." 

So  the  words  "  rules  and  regulations,"  in  the 
language  of  that  day,  included  all  ordinary  acts  of 
legislation,  as  well  as  the  framing  of  temporary 
governments  for  the  people  of  the  territories.  How 
much  has  been  done  for  the  prosperity  and  happi 
ness  of  our  beloved  country,  under  the  simple 
words,  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  regulate 
commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the 
the  severed  States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes." 

This  power  to  make  needful  rules  and  regula 
tions  was  to  be  carried  into  execution  by  Congress 
agreeably  to  the  first  article  ot  the  Constitution. 
We  accordingly  find  that  the  ordinance  of  1787  is 
confirmed  and  extended  by  the  act  of  the  7th 
August,  1789,  and  that  in  her  cession  of  the  25th 
February,  1790,  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Ten 
nessee,  North  Carolina  provided  that  ii  should  be 
subject  to  the  ordinance  of  1787,  except  the  sixth 
article,  and  that  Congress  should  at  the  same  time 
assume  the  government  of  the  said  ceded  territory, 
and  execute  it  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  which 
they  support  in  the  territory  west  of  the  Ohio,  and 
a  like  provision  is  to  be  found  in  the  cession  by 
Georgia  in  1802,  and  in  the  year  1800,  Connecticut 
released  to  the  United  States  I  he  jurisdictional 
claim  of  that  State  to  the  Western  Reserve  of  Con 
necticut. 

From  this  constitutional  power  of  Congress 
have  arisen  fifteen  territorial  governments,  which 
hare  all  terminated  in  fctnte  governments^  but  two, 


9 


Oregon  and  Minesota.  We  have  solemn  deci 
sions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  re 
cognizing  this  power  in  1810,  1819,  1828  and  1840, 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mississippi  in  1818,  of 
Missouri  in  1824,  of  Louisiana  in  1830,  and  of 
Kentucky  in  1820,  the  four  last  decisions  affirming 
the  constitutionality  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  ordi 
nance  of  1787. 

This  question  was  solemnly  decided  in  1820,  by 
three-fourths  of  the  votes  of  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress  and  the  unanimous  sanction  of  Mr.  Monroe 
and  all  his  Cabinet,  and  this  decision  was  repeated 
and  ratified  in  the  Oregon  Territorial  Bill,  passed 
by  Congress  and  signed  by  President  Polk,  with 
the  unanimous  approval  of  all  his  cabinet.  At  the 
same  time  the  position  taken  by  Pennsylvania  in 
1819,  was  affirmed  by  the  resolution  for  the  condi 
tional  admission  of  Texas,  by  which  a  prospective 
'estate  to  be  created  out  of  it  could  only  be  admitted 
with  a  perpetual  prohibition  of  slavery,  a  provi 
sion  deliberately  sanctioned  and  approved  by  Pre 
sident  Tyler,  Mr.  Calhoun  and  the  rest  of  the 
Cabinet,  and  also  by  President  Polk,  Mr.  Bucha 
nan  and  the  other  members  of  his  Cabinet. 

It  is  therefore  too  late  in  the  day  to  dispute  a 
construction  of  the  constitution  upon  which  de 
pends  by  far  the  largest  portion  of  the  present 
Empire  of  the  United  States  of  Ame'rica. 

The  annexation  of  Texas,  a  slave  State,  pro- 
dnced  a  war  with  Mexico,  a  free  State,  and  first 
by  conquest  and  then  by  purchase  and  by  treaty, 
we  acquired  from  her  the  free  Territories  of  New 
Mexico  and  California.  This  is  established  by  the 
decree  of  Present  Guerrero  of  the  15th  Decem 
ber,  1829,  and  by  the  act,  of  the  Mexican  Con 
gress  of  the  5th  April,  1837,  as  published  by  Mr. 
Buchanan  when  Secretary  of  State,  and  also  by 
the  Constitution  of  the  Mexican  Republic  of  the 
year  1843,  by  which  it  is  declared,  "no  one  is  a 
slave  in  the  Territory  of  the  Nation,  and  any  in 
troduced  shall  be  considered  free,  and  shall  be 
under  the  protection  of  the  laws." 

By  the  Law  of  Nations  these  territories  so  ac 
quired  remain  free  until  the  la\v  is  changed  by  a 
competent  power  as  in  this  case  by  Congress. 

This  plain  position  has,  however,  given  rise  to 
what  may  be  called  the  South  Carolina  heresy, 
wbich  acknowledges  the  power  of  Congress  over 
the  territories,  but  denies  it  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery,  and  which  assumes  the  ground  that  all 
territory  belonging  to  the  United  States  i,s  slave 
territory  by  the  Constitution. 
-«The  efiect  of  all  this  would  be,  that  if  we  had 
conquered  all  Mexico,  it  would  instantly  have  be 
come  slave  territory,  and  the  same  rule  would  be 
applied  to  the  peaceable  or  forcible  acquisition  of 
the  British  Provinces. 

The  armies  ot  the  United  States,  according  to 
this  theory,  march  into  free  States  -with  slavwv 
inscribed  OB  their  banners,  and  they  hold  wt  to  lae 


conquered,  the  inevitable  introduction  of  the 
crimes  and  cruelties  of  slavery  as  the  glorious- 
fruits  of  conquest. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  constitution  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  to  warrant  so  preposterous  an  idea.  Its 
remaining  compromises  are  but  three,  they  em 
brace  the  apportionment  of  Representatives  and  di 
rect  taxes  among  the  States,  according  to  the  fe 
deral  numbers,  the  requisition  that  capitation  and 
other  direct  taxes  shall  be  laid  in  proportion  to  the 
census,  and  the  clause  which  provides  that  fugi 
tives  from  labour  in  one  State,  escaping  into 
another  State,  shall  be  delivered  up.  The  most 
refined  ingenuity  can  extract  nothing  from  these 
propositions  to  favour  a  heresy  so  erroneous, 
which  would  render  slavery  and  its  extension  the 
sole  object  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Pittsburg  resolution  on  this  branch  of  the 
question  is  most  accurate,  and  expresses  the  real 
condition  of  slavery  and  slave  property  in  the 
Union.  The  state  of  slavery  is  deemed  to  be  a 
mere  municipal  regulation  founded  upon  and  limit 
ed  to  the  range  of  the  State  laws. 

The  true  answer  however,  is  to  be  found  in.  the 
Constitution.  The  territories  belong  to  the  United 
States  in  its  sovereign  capacity,  and  the  Constitu 
tion  has  devolved  the  power  of  governing  and  le 
gislating  for  them  upon  Congress  exclusively,  and 
no  State,  nor  any  of  its  citizens,  under  any  pre 
tence,  can  control  or  nullify  their  action.  These 
are  the  plain  words  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land, 
and  the  repeated  and  undisputed  exercise  of  this 
power  in  relation  to  slavery  has  added  precedent 
to  principle. 

One  word  about  an  obsolete  idea — the  Missou 
ri  compromise.  In  1811,  in  secret  session,  Con 
gress  determined  the  Floridas  should  "never  pass 
from  Spain  into  the  hands  of  any  power  but  the 
Ignited  States.  In  the  treaty  of  1819  they  were 
ceded  to  us,  we  ceded  Texas  to  Spain,  and  at  that 
moment  our  title  to  the  Oregon  Territory  was  a* 
complete  as  it  whsupon  the  inauguration  of  Presi 
dent  Polk. 

The  Missouri  compromise,  therefore,  was  the 
admission  of  Missouri,  and  the  future  admission 
of  two  slave  States,  Florida  and  Arkansas  on 
the  one  side,  and  the  admission  of  Mojne  and  the 
surrender  of  all  the  remaining  Territory  of  the 
United  States  to  freedom  on  the  other. 

The  annexation  of  Texas  added  upwards  of  three 
hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  Slave  Territory, 
whilst  the  Qregon  Treaty  negotiattd  by  a  southern 
administration  surrendered,  five  degrees  and  forty 
minutes  of  Latitude  of  our  free  Territory  to  Great 
Britain;  as  a  compensation  for  Texas,  ami  tne  loss 
of  nearly  four  hundred  miles  of  the  Paci&c  cost, 
we  are  clearly  entitled  to  the  whole  of  New  Mexi 
co  and  California,  as  free  tercttory,  and  whicb» 
to  ua  as  such,. 
4e»  the  running  of  the  line  of  36;3ft  to  ihfc 


10 


Pacific  would  dismember  California,  and  make  all 
future  acquisitions  from  Mexico  with  Free  Soil — 
fclave  Territory,  an  absurdity  too  great  to  be  even 
•ta'ed  iii  a  free  state. 

The  power  of  Congress  over  the  territories,  and 
over  the  admission  of  new  States,  provides  for  the 
very  case  of  California,  which  Congress  can  admit 
iuto  the  Union,  if  they  deem  it  just  and  expedient. 
It  is  true  that  the  other  new  States  of  the  West, 
except  Texas,  have  been  preceded  by  territorial 
forms  of  government,  which  emanated,  directly 
or  indirectly,  from  the  Ordinance  of  1787  ;  but  it  is 
clear,  as  in  the  present  instance,  that  Congress  may 
not  choose  the  territory  to  go  through  any  of  the 
grades  of  territorial  government,  but  that  it  shall 
assume  at  once  the  last  and  perfect  form,  tbat  of  a 
State.  Such  was  the  case  of  Texas,  unquestionably. 
This  may  be  done  by  a  previous  Act  of  Congress 
pointing-  out  the  mode  jn  which  the  State  shall  be 
organized,  or  it  may  be  done  by  an  Act  ratifying 
what  tl  e  people  cf  the  new  State  have  already  ac 
complished,  as  in  the  case  of  Tennessee  and 
Michigan,  a  slave  and  a  free  State  admitted  into 
Union  under  the  two  glorious  administrations 
of  Washington  and  Jackson. 

The  case  of  Tennessee  is  most  appropriate.  The 
territorial  legislature,  the  creature  of  Congress, 
look  a  census  called  a  convention,  which  framed 
a  constitution  under  which  a  state  legislature  was 
organized,  which  elected  two  Senators,  whilst  the 
people  elected  one  Representative,  and  they  then 
asked  for  admission  into  tbe  Union.  Congress 
unhesitatingly  passed  an  act  for  her  immediate  ad 
mission  into  the  Union  on  the  1st  June,  1796. 

Forty  years  afterwards,  Michigan  adopted  the 
tame  course,  and  upon  the  precedent  of  Tennessee 
was  admitted  into  the  Union,  with  Arkansas, 
which  had  also  framed  a  State  constitution  without 
Ike  sanction  of  any  previous  Act  of  Congress. 

The  exercise  of  the  power  of  Congress  over  the 
territories  has  been  of  the  most  plenary  kind.  In 
Ibe  district  of  Lousiana  it  devolved  the  government 
upon  the  Governor  and  Judges  of  the  Indiana  ter 
ritory.  It  was  afterwards  called  the  Territory  of 
Lousiana,  and  a  Governor  and  Judges  were  ap 
pointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  executive  power 
was  vested  in  the  Governor,  the  judicial  in  the 
Judges,  and  the  whole  legislative  power  of  the 
territory  in  the  two  combined,  thus  giving  to  four 
officers  of  the  general  government  the  power  of 
legislating  for  all  its  inhabitants. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  California 
can  be  constitutionally  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
a  State,  with  her  present  constitution  and  bound 
aries. 

Congress  refused  to  give  California  a  territorial 
form  of  government,  but  its  members  distinctly 
Jbtnted  that  its  people  should  form  a  State  govern 
ment,  a  policy  which  was  clearly  favored  by  both 
tike  present  and  the  late  administrations. 


With  an  almost  untraversed  cfesert  between  her 
and  the  Atlantic  States,  with  a  population  increas 
ing  in  numbers  beyond  all  human  calculation,  and* 
with  the  richest  mines  of  the  most  valuable  metal, 
worked  by  the  free  labor  of  our  most  intelligent 
and  hardy  citizens,  and  with  a  foreign  and  domes 
tic  commerce  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  the 
United  State*,  a  State  government  became  a  State 
necessity.  The  crisis  admitted  of  no  delay — a 
eonv^niion  was  called — a  constitution  formed,  a 
model  for  all  future  States,  and  almost  nnanimous- 
ly  adopted.  A  State  Legislature  and  members  of 
Congress,  and  Senators  have  been  elected,  under 
it,  and  this  great  and  glorious  free  State  of  the 
Pacific  is  now  knocking  at  the,door  of  the  Senate 
aousb  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  an  inde 
pendent  member  of  the  confederacy. 

Sound  policy  dictates  her  immediate  and  uncon 
ditional  admission.  With  such  a  State  on  the 
great  western  ocean,  we  require  no  army  or  navy 
to  preserve  her  from  foreign  invasion  or  aggres 
sion.  Her  citizen-soldiers,  and  sailors  would 
protect  her  against  the  attack  of  the  most  powerful 
nation  in  the  world, 

It  is  just  and  expedient  to  give  our  brethren  in 
the  far  west  the  protection  of  a  settled  government 
and  laws,  and  to  invest  her  authorities  with  all  the 
powers  of  a  perfect  State  organization. 

I  therefore  speak  the  united  voice  of  the  people 
of  Penn«ylvania,  when  I  say  that  the  State  of  Cali 
fornia  should  be  immediately  and  unconditionally 
admitted  with  her  present  constitution  and  bounda 
ries  into  the  Union. 

I  have  no  wish  to  bandy  words  with  our  brethren 
of  the  South  on  this  question,  or  on  that  of  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery  to  the  free  territories  of  the 
United  States.  They  are  separate  and  distinct 
questions,  and  should  be  separately  dealt  with  by 
Congress. 

The  pressing  question  is  the  admission  of  Cali 
fornia,  which  should  be  discussed  and  acted  upon 
alone,  unclogged  with  any  other  measure  or  con 
siderations,  and  the  friends  of  the  Union  will  act 
wisely  and  prudently  in  pressing  it  in  this  separate 
and  distinct  form. 

I  have  no  fear  that  its  admission  will  weaken  or 
dissolve  the  Union  The  Southern  politicians  have 
been  too  much  committed  in  favor  of  this  policy 
by  their  open  and  repeated  declarations  to  risk  any 
thing  upon  so  absurd  an  issue. 

It  is  true  they  wish  to  preserve  their  ascendency 
in  the  Senate,  which  is  a  part  of  the  Executjve  as- 
well  as  of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  govern 
ment,  and  which  has- enabled  them  to  control  \^e 
course  of  Executive  action,  but  their  murmurs 
will  be  hushed  into  silence  the  moment  Congress 
passes  a«  act  for  the  unc»nditional  admission  of 
California. 

The  preservation  of  the  remaining  free  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico  as  free  territory,. will  never 
dissolte  the  Unioa.  No  Nashville  Convention,  16 


11 


i1  «ver  dares  to  meet,  can  effect  this  object^  and  I 
would  willingly  trust  the  moral  traitors  who 
preach  disunion  to  the  patriotism  of  our  brethren, 
the  people  of  the  South,  who  will  never  permit  a 
few  ambitious  men  to  sever  our  glorious  Union. 

Upon  thii  question  the  free  States  are  clearly  in 
the  right.  They  simply  follow  and  carry  out  the 
principles  of  the  constitution,  and  the  directions 
an<S  practice  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison, 
Monroe,  Jackson,  and  Polk. 

The  North  an<3  the  South  are  essential  to  each 
other.  We  are  the  same  people  with  the  same  in 
terests,  and  by  the  American  invention  of  the  elec- 
iric  telegraph  brought  within  a  few  hours  of  each 
other. 

I  would  never,  therefore,  say  to  our  brethren  of 
the  South,  you  are  weak  because  of  the  peculiar 
institution  which  your  capitalists  consider  so  es 
sential  to  your  happiness.  But  it  is  our  duty  to 
say  to  the  partisan  politicians  who  are  attempting 
to  create  capital  for  themselves,  that  you  never 
can  unite  the  Southern  people  in  a  conspiracy  to 
dissolve  the  Union. 

The  South  has  no  ships,  no  navy,  no  sailors,  and 
it  certainly  wants  no  standing  army  to  spend  its 
treasures,  and  to  clothe  its  officers  with  despotic 
power.  Delaware,  Maryland,  Western  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  and  the  whole  mountain  range  of  coun 
try  which  divides  the  Atlantic  States  from  those  on 
the  Mississippi  and  even  Missouri,  are  either  vir 
tually  free,  or  soon  will  become  so  ;  and  is  it  pos 
sible  to  suppose  that  a  few  fanatical  politicians  can 
unite  these  discordant  elements  in  favor  of  a  mea 
sure  which,  if  carried  out,  would  destroy  the  value 
of  all  slave  property  in  the  slave  States. 

The  prosperity  of  Lousiana  depends  upon  the 
Union.  Florida  cannot  exist  without  it,  and  Ten 
nessee,  the  burial  place  of  the  hero  of  New  Orleans, 
has  refused  to  welcome  the  pilgrims  of  the  one  idea. 
The  South  cannot  alter  the  course  of  nature. 
The  black  race  is  not  increased  by  emigration,  and 
the  existence  of  the  peculiar  institution  prevents 
the  influx  of  white  emigrants  into  the  slave  States. 
Tke  free  States  of  the  North  and  West  must, 
therefore,  always  outstrip  them  in  the  race  of 
population. 


But  free  labor  requires  free  soil.  The 
the  peasant  or  laborer  of  the  South,  is  the  declara 
tion  of  its  champions,  and  they  have  compared  him 
to  the  fre«  citizen  of  the  free  States,  who  can  cul 
tivate  the  land,  build  houses,  dig  his  own  gold,  sail 
his  own  ships,  educate  his  own  children,  and  pro 
tect  the  soil  by  his  own  right  arm  from  invasion. 

I  will  not  answer  so  unworthy  an  attempt  to  de 
grade  my  fellow-citizens  to  the  level  of  slaves, 
whom  their  masters  will  neither  teach  to  read  or 
write,  nor  allow  to  read  the  Bible,  and  with  whom 
the  connection  of  the  sexes  is  but  concubinage, 
and  who  can  be  sold  at  public  auction,  like  our 
brute  beasts,  to  the  highest  bidder. 

A  free  State  on  the  Pacific  can  defend  itself 
whilst  a  slave  State  would  require  the  army  and 
navytof  the  United  States  to  protect  it  from  dome.*- 
tic  insurrection,  or  foreign  invasion. 

In  Pennsylvania  we  haye  a  peculiar  interest  in 
the  success  of  California,  for  our  Central  Railroad 
is  the  first  link  in  the  chain  which  is  to  bind  u»  to 
Saint  Louis  and  San  Francisco.  This  link  unites 
the  metropolis  of  western  with  lhat  of  eastern 
Pennsylvania,  numbering  between  them  more  thau 

half  a  million  of  free  inhabitants.        Baner    ft  I  tL^ :•> 

Congress  has  the  power  of  exclusive  legislation 
over  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  can  abolish 
slavery  and  the  slave  trade  in  it  any  at  moment.  I1 
8 a  disgrace  to  the  capital  of  a  free  Republic  to 
have  in  it  slave  markets,  when  the  sultan  of  Tur 
key  has  prohibited  them  in  Constantinople,  a  Ma- 
hommedan  city.  But  if  the  inhabitants  of  the 
district  are  unwilling  to  hove  the  benefits  of  free 
dom  extended  to  them,  I  would  not  force  such  a 
measure  upon  them,  but  would  retrocede  the  re 
maining  part  of  the  District  to  Maryland,  and 
remove  the  seat  of  government  to  Pittsburgh  a 
city  of  its  own  right  hand,  situated  at  the  head  of 
the  Ohio,  in  the  vicinity  ol  the  Lakes  and  upon  the 
direct  route  to  the  Great  Western  Ocean,  and 
occupying  a  central  position  which  would  ren 
der  it  a  fit  capital,  when  the  British  Provinces  and 
Mexico,  by  peaceful  annexation,  have  become  in 
tegral  pans  of  the  United  States  of  North  Amer 
ica. 


V  i, 


